Posted by Ensign Chloe Harland (Nurse) in San Francisco - Christmas Vacation

Posted by Lieutenant Nathan Harland (Counselor) in San Francisco - Christmas Vacation

Posted by Ensign Chloe Harland (Nurse) in San Francisco - Christmas Vacation
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

Previously - https://www.star-fleet.com/core/stf3/outpost42/posts/110171/

Eight Years Later

“Come on Kelly, you can just slide me the officer exam notes right? You are training to try and get that promotion, I just need five minutes … five quick minutes, think of it like bad date you had the other day… you weren’t satisfied but you got a new hovercar for just five minutes of work.”

“Hey, I earned that car because that was the longest five minutes of my life.” Taking a long draw on her coffee she thought about the rest of Nathan’s comment. Kelly looked over the lip of her coffee mug eyeing Nathan. “And just because I am your TA for advanced diplomacy doesn’t mean you are getting a free pass because you got a set of baby blues that melt women and a silver tongue.” Setting the mug down, Kelly propped her feet up on the other side of the table opposite Nathan’s pushing back in her chair slightly. “There are two reasons you are not getting a quick peek at the exam notes. One,” she held up a finger, “this is not your major so I have no idea why you are taking the class just for fun. Doctors don’t need diplomacy. You have hypos. Natasha taught me that one,” she said the last part under her breath. “And two,” she held up a second finger, “you have that weird photographic memory thing going on. I have seen you in action. When you want to you can memorize anything you see like some ancient copy machine. You would only need a glance and you have a hundred and fifteen percent going into the finals. You could write your name on the paper, take a nap, and still pull an A so what’s your angle,” she studied him narrowing her eyes playfully.

“Come on… I’ll just get some underclassman to do it for me… who is that suck up… Liam?” Nathan said, knowing fully well it was Ian. He often tried to play off his knowledge to seem less like he was watching every moment. “Whoever he and his Australian boyfriend is I am almost certain I can get them… unless you want to cut out the middle men… help someone out you like soooo much.” Nathan said as he elongated the last part with a smirk and a wink as he hoped to see if he could charm Kelly. She often had been one of the few women he ever

“No, no. Forget it,” she instantly switched from debating why he should not have the officers exam to he definitely was not getting it. “Besides they would know I was the one who gave it to you then my butt and career are on the line.” Picking up her stylus she went back to studying Xenology which was the reason they were both here. Nathan being a doctor had to eat, sleep, and breathe alien races so he was the perfect study buddy.

“I get that and I can pretend to be going to my home for the holiday.” Nathan said as he sat with his feet propped up on the table. They were in a type of coffee hut bookstore that a lot of students, Starfleet or otherwise, tended to visit.

“Pretend,” Kelly looked up at him. “Wait you are not going home for Christmas break? Why are you not going home to be with your family? This is like the past year it is a sure thing. Come June we have no idea where we will be placed except at the bottom of the totem pole to request leave.” Dropping her stylus, Kelly put her feet down and looked at him no longer concerned about the exam notes. “Nate, you have to go home. Promise me?”

As his legs hit the floor Nathan shot up as he shook his head. “Look, I’m not like your family… I will try is the best I can offer.” he said as took a deep breath in an almost sigh like heave. “Besides, Christmas has never been my holiday. Just my cousins and the families meeting up together as I am reminded that I spent years alone with my dad being ignored… hell the best Christmas I had in the past decade was trying to track down that mystery girl from Connecticut. Never did find her, though most of the the people in Dansbury where total arsehats…Maybe I missed a bullet?” Nathan said we a chuckle as he brought up from his bag an empty notebook.

“Oh my god you know that notebook takes down your sex appeal even with those eyes of yours right,” Kelly picked up her coffee taking a swig. “Plus whatever you put in there is just going to disintegrate in like fifty years.”

“Hey hey hey, don’t make fun of me. I enjoy writing. This is one of the last beacons of a time before digital footprints took over, a smell that can’t be forgotten, and you love the coffee so don’t act like you hate this place.” he said as he looked at the notebook as he looked up at Kelly with a smirk. “Look, you want a bet? I will step out of my comfort, find someone completely random like you keeping saying I should try… if you ask Ric out.” Nathan said as he grinned knowing she wouldn’t take the bait.

“Fine done.” Kelly crossed her arms over her chest, “but if you aren’t going home you need to stay home with someone. Not a girl a night but one person for the holidays that you genuinely want to meet up with. How you do that is up to you but there has to be a potential future Mrs. Nathan Harland out there. Might as well give it the college try now. See what I did there,” Kelly bit her stylus with a huge grin. The pun was horrible but so was this bet on some level.

Surprise couldn’t be the word that came over Nathan’s face, she took him up on the offer, which wasn’t something he knew how to answer on. “Okay… fine I know you have been avoiding his advances… you at least have someone you like… me… I can customize my target with… tasks.” he said with a smirk, everything an experiment for him. “I write out a series of things I want to see in someone… and see if someone takes up on the task. Leave it on a shelf here, anyone who reads hard copy books already has a huge mark in my mind.” he said, not even remotely thinking this would produce anything of value.

Harland, CNS

“Way way wait,” Kelly held up her hand. “I said met a girl not interview her like some guinea pig is a psyche experiment. You need don’t nee a book you need therapy, doc,” she tossed a chunk of coffee cake at him from the slice she had been picking at next to her coffee. “Stop being so analytical. Use what you got and go saunter up to that table of nurses over there,” Kelly pointed across the room. “Croon out a tune, bat those baby blues and just pick one out. Like a puppy.” Kelly wiggled in her seat overly proud of herself. “While we might be at Starfleet Academy, one holds true as anywhere else. Nurses become nurses to marry a doctor. Natasha told me that.”

Kelly Shultz

“No screw all that… I need to be certain. You remember that girl from the club, I almost fell for her till it was so obvious she wanted that Cajun’s Australian boyfriend… though… it was a great evening all the same. I am tired of the same old same old, the boring simple… ” he said as he gestured at her direction. “Blonde buxom and cocksure gets so boring don’t you think?” he said, pre-emptively ducking from any other projectiles Kelly might throw at him.

Kelly looked up at him with a neutral expression before her mouth slowly spread into a grin. “So you are saying I am buxom,” she sat up ram rod straight and winked at him. “I didn’t get these until middle school but I have always had the confidence, however, if you are lumping me into the dolled up twits that think they are smarter than they really are,” she tossed her hair around and put on love struck doe eye expression, “I will kill you in your sleep.” She batted her eyes as if saying sweet nothings. “I am trained to do that better than if you are awake. So care to revise that statement doc?”

“Okay not you, not you… don’t ninja chop me… I know what you security types do on your free time.” he said as he straightened up as he thought back to what he always loved. Courage, daring, willing to take risks and be themselves. These are what he valued, and what he looked for.

“Yes we either kill or seek revenge for the slightest mistep,” she took another sip of her coffee. “Speaking of revenge did I tell you what I am doing next week. I heard that Perkins is,” Kelly droned on with another one of her hit Perkins where it hurts schemes as Nathan zoned out in his own thoughts nodding where needed to indicate he was actually listening to her. His mind was now focused on what his idealized image of the future Mrs. Nathan Harland was.

A few glimmers came to his mind, the young girl he remembered making him repair her sand castle after he accidently destroyed it. Nathan was too young to know really what he liked when he was 12, but a young girl standing up to him and making him play with her as he helped rebuild her castle took moxy. Then 4 years later, the winter ball he found someone else willing to take a risk, as she came out to kiss him as he was arrested. He couldn’t say it was a great kiss, but he saw that day a young woman putting herself out there.

Both incidents always made Nathan to seem to be chasing those traits in other girls he dated, often finding them vapid and air headed. The few he didn’t, they were more fuss than he wanted to deal with like the Jewish girl in the club. This of course didn’t stop Nathan, he always said yes to a date, and he used his charm and talents for what some would call evil at times.

Opening the notebook he began to rip a few pages out as he tossed them at Kelly.

“Are listening to me,” she asked watching Nate focus his attention on the book instead of what she had been talking about. Gathering up the slips of paper from the table she frowned. “What is this,” she began to look them over.

“Old notes, I don’t need them anymore.” he said as he used his pen to tap the side of his head.

“Old notes? These are the officer’s exam cliff notes,” she balled them up tossing them back at Nathan.

---

“It looks like you found me, in a sea of print you picked up the one book that seemed out of place. Congrats, you at least seem to at least be able to notice unusual patterns in stacked books. This places you in a world above most others, who look but don’t really see what is around them. It’s Christmas time, and there is holly and jolly all around, but not all smiles are real and not all hearts filled with the cheer around them.

So if you are someone who feels that this Christmas, just feels a little different and wonder if the cheer has been gone and you don’t understand why, I offer you a challenge. It’s a simple one, but if you want to see what can be done to break from the mold, I hope you play along.

So, the challenge… find each word by completing the clues. Everytyhing can be found here in the store, you just have to know where to look.

___ _______ _____ ?

Question one, this one is simple… the first letter belongs to the music that never stops playing in the store. Even this time of the year, they find songs to match the theme of their very soulful vibe. Can you figure out bands like The Darts or The Oriels connect?

Number two, this one can be found in the kids section. My father tried to read it to me, teaching the sins of want and thirsty rodents. If you can think of the title, it only takes the second word to find the word you seek.

So, you are still playing, I commend you. Hopefully you are having fun, and be sure to get a cookie on me, tell the Barista Buddy said to give you a treat. Before you ask aloud to yourself, no that isn’t my name. Next, part was always important to my family, but I always had my moments of uncertainty. This book can be found in the religious section by a Jennifer Michael Hecht. That might seem a little easy, but the trick is… I always had the opposite of her book, even if I didn’t always go to church. Some might say I felt in my heart Santa, and more, was always real.

Okay that one might have been a little on the nose, might have even confused you. But you have to have faith, I know what I believe in very strongly. So the next answer, is in that last sentence. You just have to look between the vine.

You made it, somehow you didn’t get turned away from non sequitur rants of faith, cookies, and classic music. I’m impressed, but this last part there is no hints. If you know what the last word is, and I believe you just might, take the mic and wish real deep upon a star you might just find it there is more to come if you only believe.

If you do believe, and want to keep playing the 12 days of Christmas, challenge me back with the book nestled next to the original singers album at the record store across the street. If not, place me back where you found me and have a Merry Christmas.”

---

Nathan paused as he put the pen down, looking up at Kelly as he handed it to her. “Hide it for me, don’t tell me where you put it… John behind the counter will let me know if someone completes this challenge…” he said with a deep breath. “This is one of my stupidest ideas, why am I agreeing to this?” he said as he knew Kelly was going to say he didn’t have to do it as he smiled widely.

“Because you never do anything the easy way,” she took the book from him. It was not worth arguing about however that didn’t mean she couldn’t get in the last word. “Hey, I am Nate. I can sing any song you toss my way and play the guitar like a rock star. Oh by the way did I tell you I am going to be a doctor,” Kelly spoke an imaginary greeting out as she got up and disappeared around the corner.

Several minutes she returned without the book but with two new cups of coffee setting one down in front of Nathan. Sliding into her seat she opened her mouth to speak.

“Before you say it, I want to… you’re right… I got too comfortable with this.” he said as he waved across his face. “Maybe I should find someone willing to be a little crazy, have a little fun… not just want to rough house in the sheets… there has to be someone as equally crazy as me doesn’t there?”

Nathan Harland

“You know when I said future Mrs. Harland and that whole soliloquy about you finding someone for the holidays I didn’t really mean forever.” Kelly raised an eyebrow suspiciously. She had always suspected Nathan had a wall around him even if he acted like he was on the prowl for companionship. Typically those people were the ones that wanted it the most even though they acted like it didn’t make a difference either way. “You don’t want equal anything,” she replied. “You want someone that opposite of you. The reason opposites attract is because it brings out the best parts of you. If you are looking for wild, crazy, and daring then I hope whatever you wrote in that book finds it for you. Now study. Finals are in two weeks, and I for one do not want to lose my GPA or first-round transfer options so get to work.”

Kelly

===============
Two hours later.....
===============

Chloe walked up and down the rows and rows of books. Places like this were few and far between in San Francisco. In the age of digital books, store like this were obsolete, still everything came back around given enough time. Where once consoles lined the walls, now shelves of PaDD’s dedicated to stories filled the racks. It was a quaint idea. A single PaDD with a single story or a collection of stories gave a feel of the old days when paper printed books lined the shelves. Even more rare was the scattered collection of real paper printed books mixed among them. Companies had began the retro read as the media was starting to call it. Classics from history were the main stays with Alice in Wonderland, To Kill a Mockingbird, and the Odessy were a few titles that Chloe’s finger tips traced as she walked up and down the aisles.

She needed a distraction from comparative anatomy. They had been studying here for hours because it was one of the few library type places one could talk, study, and eat. Finals at the academy had all the private study areas reserved weeks in advance. Dorm rooms held too many distractions, so the small shop always saw a boon in business for several set weeks of the year.

Almost to the end of the row, Chloe’s fingers found a fabric-bound book making her stop and look harder. The binding did not hold a title which made the book even more interesting. It was also considerably smaller and covered in the brightest of red fabrics. Using her fingertip, Chloe titled the title so that it fell from the shelf onto her hand. The title struck her as the most surprising of all things. It was not ink printed but hand written in black marker. This was easily recognized due to the slight bleeding of the letters. It was also in blocky capital letters as if the novelist had quickly written the inscription Go Ahead and Open Me or Don’t. What’s your choice? Flipping the book over in her hands, Chloe could not find an author. Glancing over her shoulder she looked about wondering if this was some kind of joke or prank. It would not be the first time someone had created a surprise to liven up the dreary hours of studying before exams. Closing one eye, as if she expected a canned fabric snake to spring from the innards of the book, Chloe was more than a little surprised to find nothing but text.

“It looks like you found me, in a sea of print you picked up the one book that seemed out of place. Congrats, you at least seem to at least be able to notice unusual patterns in stacked books. This places you in a world above most others, who look but don’t really see what is around them. It’s Christmas time, and there is holly and jolly all around, but not all smiles are real and not all hearts filled with the cheer around them.

Closing the book, Chloe flipped it over several times looking for anything identifying an author. Not finding any she went back to reading.

So if you are someone who feels that this Christmas, just feels a little different and wonder if the cheer has been gone and you don’t understand why, I offer you a challenge. It’s a simple one, but if you want to see what can be done to break from the mold, I hope you play along.

“But I like Christmas,” Chloe stated out loud leaning against the other rack of books behind her. It was not that she expected a response from the book, but so far she did like the holidays. While most however would have shut it and shelved it, Chloe was more intrigued on why this person did not seem to hold the giddy happiness the holidays brought. Turning the next page she continued to read.

So, the challenge… find each word by completing the clues. Everything can be found here in the store, you just have to know where to look.

___ _______ _____ ?

Question one, this one is simple… the first letter belongs to the music that never stops playing in the store. Even this time of the year, they find songs to match the theme of their very soulful vibe. Can you figure out bands like The Darts or The Orioles connect?

Chloe stood still and listened to the songs playing. It was Christmas but it could not be that easy. Everywhere was playing holiday tunes. What was special about this music? Closing her eyes, her lips moved along with the song playing. It was considered a classic but even more than that it was old even when music like this was novel. The fifty’s soda pop shop do wop suddenly echoed through clearly.

“Do wop,” she said out loud Looking down at the pages she pulled a stylus from her hair. As a nurse, their stylus had a small ink component to help write names on individuals or indicate what body part was supposed to be treated.

Do ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ _ ***

Filling in the first blank, Chloe looked at the net clue.

Number two, this one can be found in the kids section. My father tried to read it to me, teaching the sins of want and thirsty rodents. If you can think of the title, it only takes the second word to find the word you seek.

Chloe walked with a smile toward the small children’s section. She had an idea of the books there but it was better to look than start writing down names. “Stuart Little, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Give,” she stopped immediately laughing. Part of her had realized she was thinking way to classical literature. What ever the plan was with this, the writer was either a young kid or had children of their own. “If you give a mouse a cookie,” she said out loud looking at the cover. “Yep, there is a cup,” she shook her head smiling shifting the book behind the notebook she was carrying. Carefully she filled in the next word before reading the third clue.

Do You _ ___***

So, you are still playing, I commend you. Hopefully you are having fun, and be sure to get a cookie on me, tell the Barista Buddy said to give you a treat. Before you ask aloud to yourself, no that isn’t my name. Next, part was always important to my family, but I always had my moments of uncertainty. This book can be found in the religious section by a Jennifer Michael Hecht. That might seem a little easy, but the trick is… I always had the opposite of her book, even if I didn’t always go to church. Some might say I felt in my heart Santa, and more, was always real.

Okay that one might have been a little on the nose, might have even confused you. But you have to have faith, I know what I believe in very strongly. So the next answer, is in that last sentence. You just have to look between the vine.

You made it, somehow you didn’t get turned away from non sequitur rants of faith, cookies, and classic music. I’m impressed, but this last part there is no hints. If you know what the last word is, and I believe you just might, take the mic and wish real deep upon a star you might just find it there is more to come if you only believe.

If you do believe, and want to keep playing the 12 days of Christmas, challenge me back with the book nestled next to the original singers album at the record store across the street. If not, place me back where you found me and have a Merry Christmas.”